Review: "Thunder Force" (Netflix)

by Christopher James

Longtime friends McCarthy and Spencer in "Thunder Force."Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer are already acting superheroes. Over their long careers, they’ve stolen scenes from the best, been nominated for Oscars (with Spencer winning in 2011), and headlined comedy, drama and horror films. There’s nothing these women can’t do… until now. Thunder Force is their kryptonite. There’s no superpower in their arsenal that can save this comedy, which is completely devoid of laughs. 

Thunder Force takes place in a world much like our own. The main difference: mysterious intergalactic rays touched down in the 80s and gave a few bad apples superpowers. These super individuals, called Miscreants, use their powers to terrorize everyone in sight. If only bad guys are given powers, how are the good guys ever going to prevail?

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Crowe and Koala

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Best International Feature: The Man Who Sold His Skin

by Cláudio Alves

For the past few months, I've been trying to watch as many Best International Feature submissions as I possibly can. For The Film Experience, I reviewed 33 of those titles, including nine of the 15 shortlisted films, with most of the remaining finalists being taken care of by other writers. Still, one feature remained unreviewed on Oscar nomination morning, and, as luck would have it, that very same production nabbed a somewhat surprising nod. I wish I could say I was happy about The Man Who Sold His Skin's triumph, but Tunisia's seventh ever submission and first nominee proved to be a disappointment…

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Would you rather?

Because we like to share celebrity instagram photos we like there has to be a gimmick built around it. --  Impromptu reader polls. This cute image of Nicole Kidman announcing that filming has begun on Being the Ricardos is not included bin in the following poll ecause you can't "interact" with it in your imagine. But we wanted to gaze upon it anyway.

Would you rather...

• marry Emma Corrin?
• wear your own merchandise with Samuel L Jackson?
• groom with Kate Beckinsale?
• shower with Chris Lowell? 
• get a giant leg tattoo with Ricky Martin? 
• eat cake with Olivia Munn?
• try on outfits with Leslie Jordan?
• exchange naughty texts with Halle Berry?
• go parachuting with Clemens Schick?
• garden with Alan Cumming?
• do your own stunts with Sebastian Stan? 
• get wet outdoors with Matthias Schoenaerts?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide!

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Review: South African Queer War Drama ‘Moffie’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 There is a traditional image of military might that emphasizes strength above all else, to the detriment of individualism and often humanity. We’ve seen this portrayed many times in disturbing fashion in movies and television (not to mention real life), as drill sergeants and other commanding officers work to crush the spirits of their charges and “toughen” them up so that their weaknesses will be rooted out. This can obviously have truly scarring effects, felt both during and after service. A powerful showcase of that phenomenon is on display in director Oliver Hermanus’ new film Moffie, opening Friday.

In the same way that Confederate battalions aren’t fondly remembered in America, white men who fought for South Africa in the 1980s aren’t really on the right side of history...

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